Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes
These delicious Guinness cupcakes are moist, chocolatey, and boozy. They are topped with a maple cinnamon cream cheese frosting and salty crunchy pretzels.
I’m going to start off by saying that what I love about this recipe is that you can really taste the beer in these cupcakes. I mean, that’s the whole point of adding booze to a dessert, right? And this is coming from a person who doesn’t even like beer, but the stout adds a interesting depth of flavor to this dessert. There is a soft subtle bitterness from the hops, a natural sweetness from the malt, and a smooth bite from the alcohol. Also, the dark roasted coffee notes from the draught beer complement the rich chocolate flavor oh so nicely.
The cupcake is soft and tender in texture, bold and chocolatey in taste. The frosting on top is sweet and tangy with a smokey maple flavor and hint of spice. The mini pretzel on top is not only for decoration, but the salty crunchiness along with the sweet creamy frosting is amazing on your taste buds.
Whether you are a beer fan or not, you are going to love these Guinness cupcakes because of all their unique bold flavors. You’ve got the sweet and salty, chocolate and full-bodied dark beer, maple and spice, and everything nice.
This dessert is perfect for any St. Patrick’s Day celebration, backyard barbecue or social gathering because nothing says party like beer and cupcakes!
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Guinness Cupcakes with Maple Cinnamon Frosting
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 1 & 1/2 dozen
Description
These delicious Guinness cupcakes are moist, chocolatey, and boozy. They are topped with a maple cinnamon cream cheese frosting and salty crunchy pretzels.
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup (50g) cocoa powder (I used dutch-processed)
- 3/4 cup (188ml) Guinness draft beer, poured and settled before you measure
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup (125g) sour cream
- 1 1/4 cups (155g) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 cups (250g) sugar
- 1 tsp (5g) baking soda
- 1/4 tsp (1g) salt
Frosting
- 1/2 cup (114g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1–250g pkg cream cheese, softened
- 2 tbsp (30ml) maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 3 cups (390g) powdered sugar
- 18 mini pretzels
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line 2 muffin pans with 18 paper liners.
- In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Remove from the heat, stir in the cocoa powder until smooth, then stir in the stout. Let cool for 5 minutes.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and the sour cream. Add the cooled chocolate mixture, mixing well. Add the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt, and whisk until smooth.
- Divide the batter amongst the prepared muffin cups, filling about 2/3 full.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.
- Using an electric or stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese together. Add the maple syrup and cinnamon, mix again. Then add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, mixing well in between until smooth and creamy. Frost as desired and top each cupcake with a mini pretzel.
Notes
Top the cupcakes with the mini pretzels the day you plan to serve. Otherwise the moisture from the frosting will make the pretzels soft.
- Prep Time: 30 min
- Cook Time: 20 min
- Category: dessert
- Method: bake
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: Guinness chocolate cupcake recipe, chocolate stout cake, maple cream cheese frosting
Cupcake recipe adapted from Serious Eats.
31 Comments on “Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes”
I tried making these and I was so disappointed. They did not rise, and they fell in the middle. They seemed stuck fast to the paper inserts. I went over the recipie several times to see if I made some error, but I did exactly what it said. Any ideas where I went wrong?
I’m so sorry to hear that, Mary. It’s tough for me to say what went wrong since I was not there to see how it was made. There are many reasons this could have happened. My best guess based on what you’ve told me is either too much liquid or not enough flour, or maybe the baking soda has expired.